Yankees 7, Indians 4

June 03, 2013|Reuters

The Sports Xchange

Yankees 7, Indians 4

NEW YORK -- Mark Teixeira and Travis Hafner homered as the New York Yankees had one of their better hitting performances of late in a 7-4 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Monday night at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees won for just the fourth time in 13 games since May 20. In their previous 12 games, they had batted .219 and scored fewer than five runs in nine consecutive games, including one run in their last two games against Boston.

Teixeira hit a grand slam in the third inning for his second hit in four games since coming off the disabled list. That staked the Yankees to a 4-1 lead.

Hafner hit his first home run in two weeks -- and just his second hit in 23 at-bats -- when he connected off former teammate Justin Masterson (8-4) with one out in the seventh inning.

In between home runs, the Yankees lost a 4-1 lead in the fifth and regained their lead an inning later on Brett Gardner's two-out, two-strike single. That was set up by Austin Romine's infield hit that went off Masterson's back and subsequent stolen base.

Gardner's hit made a winner out of Shawn Kelley (3-0), who worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth and struck out two in the sixth. Joba Chamberlain worked a scoreless seventh, David Robertson did the same in the eighth and Mariano Rivera notched his 20th save.

Yankees starter Andy Pettitte failed to record his 250th career victory as he allowed four runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings. That was the same distance he went May 14 against Seattle, but this time he appeared to have no issues with his back.

Masterson allowed a season-high seven runs and nine hits over 6 1/3 innings. It came three weeks after he tossed a complete-game four-hitter in a 1-0 win against the Yankees on May 13 at Cleveland.

Cleveland scored first on Nick Swisher's RBI groundout in the third inning.

The Yankees batted around in the bottom of the third off Masterson, sending nine men to the plate and getting five hits. The big blow was Teixeira's first home run of the season on a first-pitch sinker. The blast just cleared the fence in right field.

It was Teixeira's eighth career grand slam and first since Sept. 28, 2011, in Tampa Bay against Rays ace David Price.

The Indians made it 4-2 on a rare sacrifice fly to short center field. After second baseman Robinson Cano made an over-the-shoulder catch on Mike Aviles' fly ball, Drew Stubbs just beat the throw home.

On the next play, Asdrubal Cabrera grounded out to Cano but suffered a strained left quadriceps running it out. He hobbled down the line and fell down before being carried off the field by manager Terry Francona and the trainer.

Replays showed that Cabrera may have initially injured his leg on his sacrifice bunt in the third inning.

The Indians had the bases loaded following a wild pitch and consecutive two-out walks to Swisher and Reynolds, and Pettitte was one strike away from escaping before Carlos Santana doubled off third baseman David Adams' glove to tie the game at 4.

That hit ended Pettitte's night at 83 pitches. The lefty allowed four runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings.

NOTES: 1B Lyle Overbay made his first start in the outfield after 1,272 career games. He spent most of spring training playing the outfield with the Red Sox but did not really do any work there with the Yankees until third base coach/outfield coordinator Rob Thomson suggested it in batting practice Saturday. Overbay said that the last time he appeared in the outfield was a 20-game stint in the minor leagues with Arizona in 2001. ... To make room for Pettitte, OF Brennan Boesch was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Besides spending time in the outfield, Boesch also will play some first base in the minors. ... New York C Chris Stewart missed his second straight game while recovering from the effects of dehydration from catching Saturday night. ... Cleveland RHP Chris Perez, who is dealing with tendinitis in his right rotator cuff, went an eighth straight day without throwing. He might be cleared to resume a throwing program in two to three days. ... Stubbs snapped a 0-for-17 skid with a leadoff double in the fifth.